National Survey Shows U of A Faculty with High Level of Job Satisfaction

Aug. 01, 2014

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tenured and tenure-track faculty at
the University of Arkansas expressed a relatively high level of satisfaction in
teaching, research, personal and family policies, facilities and work
resources, departmental quality and senior leadership, among other areas, in
their responses to the 2013-2014 Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher
Education (COACHE) survey, conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of
Education.

The preliminary results place the University of Arkansas
in the top 30 percent of participating institutions in nine broad categories. U
of A faculty satisfaction levels also compare favorably — ranked first or
second in seven broad categories — with five peer institutions.

“These results are
encouraging, especially when you factor in the tremendous enrollment increases the
U of A has experienced in the past five years,” said Sharon Gaber, provost and vice
chancellor for academic affairs. “We have made a concerted effort during this
time to increase our teaching resources, keep the teaching load in line with
our peer schools, improve salaries, upgrade and increase our teaching
facilities and faculty support — while at the same time maintaining the high
quality of our student body. The survey results tell us these efforts have been
appreciated. The survey also confirms that we still have more to do.”

The broad category of “teaching” was a main area in which
the U of A faculty satisfaction levels ranked in the top 30 percent of
institutions. In response to specific questions related to the effects of
enrollment growth, 81 percent of the faculty reported being either satisfied or
very satisfied with “the portion of your time spent on teaching;” 79 percent
were satisfied or very satisfied with “the number of courses you teach;” and 69
percent responded that they were satisfied or very satisfied with “the number
of students in the classes you teach.” U of A faculty also expressed
satisfaction with the university’s senior leadership, again placing in the top
30 percent of of the participating universities in this area.

“Chancellor Gearhart has focused his efforts on
identifying and communicating a vision and developing a consensus on the goals for
this institution, including the goal of becoming a top 50 public research
university by the year 2021,” said Gaber. “This has clearly made a difference
to our faculty. Along the same lines, Academic Affairs has emphasized
communicating these campus priorities to our faculty, while explaining how our
decisions and policy actions will help achieve our goals.”

The survey results compared faculty responses from nearly
100 colleges and universities nationwide. The results also included a
comparison of faculty satisfaction levels at the U of A and five peer
institutions: Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the University of
Kansas, the University of Missouri and the University of Tennessee. These
institutions are similar in size, geography, student quality and curriculum to
the University of Arkansas. The preliminary results of the survey only compare
the responses from tenured and tenure-track faculty in regards to the peer
institutions.

U of A faculty showed lower satisfaction in other areas of
the survey, including tenure and promotion clarity. However, these results
still showed improvement over the satisfaction levels reported in the 2008-2009
COACHE survey, in which only pre-tenure U of A faculty participated. The
current survey also showed a significant increase from the earlier survey in
the level of satisfaction with salary as well as “reasonable tenure
expectations in performance” as a colleague, campus citizen and community
member.

“These results help us to recognize the need to do more to
clarify the tenure process at both the college and institutional level,” said
Gaber. “It is widely known in higher education that the faculty’s success and
work climate depend greatly on their department leaders. This survey makes it
clear we need to find more ways to support our department chairs. It is also
obvious that we need to continue our efforts to improve our communication
across campus to provide our faculty the information they want and need.

“To a degree this survey shows that the University of
Arkansas is in transition — moving from a teaching institution with research to
an institution committed to both research and teaching. Our job now is to make
that transition as positive as possible.”

The COACHE survey was conducted among tenured,
tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty, with a 48 percent response rate
among U of A faculty. The average response rate among all institutions in the
survey was 49 percent.

The analysis of the preliminary report on tenured and
tenure-track faculty is the first step in the university’s response to the
COACHE survey. There is a wealth of information available through the full
COACHE report, and in the coming months the university will evaluate the
results, communicate information to faculty and administrators who can prioritize
steps to actively work to improve the faculty experience.